Chapter 011: Deep Deceptions

Although there were quite a few people in the room at that moment, the only ones who could really talk were Du Fan and Joshua. As for the cavalry commander, he was on his knees, drenched in cold sweat.
Du Fan glanced around. Most of the others were busy. They had heard some of what was said earlier, but the key points were likely still unknown to them. Even if they had heard something, given the devotion of the Temple Knights and the loyalty of the Northern Legion’s cavalry, it shouldn’t be a problem… But the suggestion put forward by this cavalry commander was truly terrifying!
Something only the royal family might use appeared in such a situation. Although it seemed somewhat like an attempt to frame someone, if they could use such a thing, then their background must be extremely significant… And to kill him, they even dared to offend the Grand Knight of the Holy Church… The implications of this were quite baffling.
It should be noted that the Grand Knight of the Holy Church represented the highest combat strength of a diocese. Offending him was tantamount to opposing the entire Holy Church.
Did they have 100% certainty that their side couldn’t uncover their identities, or did they already possess the strength to defy the Holy Church? This was truly thought-provoking.
The room fell silent for a while, with only the sounds of people working outside heard. In this chaos, the Northern Legion’s cavalry suffered heavy losses—about a hundred dead and dozens injured, leaving only around fifty capable fighters. The Temple Knights weren’t faring any better. Most of them were skilled, with fewer than a hundred dead, but nearly three hundred injured…
Under these circumstances, everyone was busy handling the dead and treating the wounded… It was utterly quiet around them. Du Fan even felt a strange sense—given their current combat strength, if the enemy launched a direct attack, they would likely all die.
There were less than two hundred unharmed people, but the number of injured was far too high. Although many injuries were minor, their combat effectiveness would be reduced. Even two Temple Knights might not be as strong as one of them before!
It took a long time before Du Fan finally let out a soft sigh. He first glanced at the kneeling cavalry commander and said, “Get up first…”

After the knight leader stood up, Du Fan made a gesture to wait, then turned to look at Joshua and said, “Lord Joshua, thank you for stepping in just now. If not for you, I, Du Fan, would already be dead…”
Joshua’s face was also pale. It wasn’t fear, but rather the realization that, given his status, someone still dared to attempt an assassination—such audacity was extreme. Yet upon hearing Du Fan’s words, he still shook his head slightly and said, “Du Fan, you’re being too modest. Your skills are quite good; you just lack experience fighting enemies. With your abilities, even without me, you shouldn’t have had much trouble.”
Du Fan waved his hand and said seriously, “Although I do have some skills, to be honest, in that situation just now, I couldn’t use any of them. I’m telling the truth—if Lord Joshua hadn’t arrived in time, I would have been killed by those people… But this matter is truly complicated…”
At this point, Du Fan paused, his gaze involuntarily falling on Joshua.
Seeing Du Fan’s expression, Joshua nodded thoughtfully and said, “This matter is indeed complicated… So, Du Fan, what do you think we should do?”
Du Fan said in a low voice, “Lord Joshua, adapt to change with constancy!”
Joshua frowned and asked, “Du Fan, what do you mean…”
Du Fan glanced around and said, “What I mean is, we might as well pretend we know nothing. Since they’ve already taken action once, they probably won’t stop until they’ve taken my life… If we alert them and scare them away, that would be bad… The best approach is to treat this as an ordinary incident, like we encountered robbers…”
Joshua’s eyes flashed, and after a moment, he said in a low voice, “Then we’ll follow your advice.”
Du Fan smiled faintly, then lowered his head in thought for a while before making a gesture to the knight leader, pointing at the corpses on the ground. “Send people right away to burn all these assassins’ bodies. As for those crossbows, swords, and other weapons, destroy them all as well. Make sure no trace is left. As for what happened tonight, tell your men to act as if they know nothing. No matter what they saw or heard, they must keep it to themselves! Whether it’s crossbows or black fire, it’s likely we misinterpreted things ourselves. Do you understand?”

The cavalry captain raised his head to look at Du Fan. Seeing Du Fan’s cold gaze and the faint smirk on his face, he quickly realized that although this third young master was only sixteen, he was by no means an ordinary person. Moreover, after going through so much, Du Fan had developed a sense of authority, and the pressure in his eyes was not meant to be intimidating for show. How could this cavalry captain dare say anything? He could only nod and say, “Yes! The young master is right. What I said tonight was nonsense—things like military crossbows and black fire are completely unfounded. I must have misseen them due to poor eyesight and made random guesses. Please, young master Du Fan, don’t take it to heart.”

Du Fan nodded and said, “Very good. Go and handle this now. Remember to properly handle the bodies of our own brothers. Once we return to the capital, I will personally pray for them… As for you, after finishing this task, go to a nearby large town to guard it. Tell them that the third young master of theGreen family encountered bandits on his way back to the capital and is now trapped in the town. Ask them to send someone to rescue him!”

With that, Du Fan slapped the table in front of him. A flash of combat energy passed through, and the fairly sturdy table instantly shattered into pieces. Then he glanced at the cavalry captain and said, “Remember, if you say even half a word that shouldn’t be said, this table will be your fate!”

The cavalry captain felt a chill run down his spine and immediately nodded, “Yes! I’ll go handle it right away!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly left. In less than a moment, the cavalry outside began to act according to his instructions.

Du Fan then glanced at Joshua again and said, “Lord Joshua, is this arrangement okay? Is there anything I’ve overlooked?”

Joshua was slightly surprised. Although he had never underestimated Du Fan, he never expected him to grow to this extent in just a few months. Not only was his skill beyond his own understanding, but he had clearly been on the brink of death just now. Yet, without any guidance from him, Du Fan had handled everything so efficiently—it was truly remarkable!

The capital was full of talented people, but few at his age possessed such cunning!

Fortunately, Du Fan was from the Holy Church; otherwise, he might have had to…

Thinking of this, Joshua smiled faintly and said, “Du Fan, you’ve handled this well. This is exactly the result we wanted. As for who did this, we’ll investigate secretly once we return to the capital. There’s no doubt we’ll be able to find out.”

As they spoke, the two exchanged smiles. Though each harbored doubts in their hearts, their expressions were filled with warmth. Du Fan watched Joshua and sighed inwardly—this Joshua truly had such cunning tactics; he indeed couldn’t be underestimated! Amidst laughter and conversation, it wasn’t long before someone came to report that not only had the killer’s body and weapons been dealt with, but the bodies of their own people had also been collected. Du Fan ordered that trailers be found in the town to load the bodies onto, and after arranging everything, he had the Temple Knights guard the entrance, allowing them to barely get through the night. By the next morning, the cavalry commander who had gone to seek reinforcements had returned with a force of three thousand cavalrymen. The governor of the nearby small city, upon hearing that the third son of Duke Green, a priest of the Holy Church in white, had encountered bandits on his territory and nearly lost his life, was nearly terrified to death. Fortunately, the young master was unharmed; otherwise, even without other consequences, negligence alone would have cost him his head! In his shock, the governor ignored everything else and immediately mobilized the five thousand troops in the city, along with the three thousand he brought himself, just to ensure Du Fan’s safety. Only after meeting Du Fan did the governor’s worried heart settle. He promptly sent men to hunt down the so-called “bandits” while trying to appease Du Fan with flattery. Yet, though he was not foolish, he knew full well that claims of “bandits” were likely just excuses. Du Fan’s attack was either due to internal family strife or conflicts among various factions. As a minor figure caught in the middle, it would be as easy for others to kill him as squishing an ant. But since Du Fan had already sent for help and he had offended the Green family by acting recklessly, although he was trying to comfort Du Fan, he was actually sweating profusely. Du Fan, of course, saw through the governor’s thoughts. But for now, it wasn’t appropriate for him and Joshua to set off with just a few hundred cavalrymen, so those three thousand cavalrymen must remain by his side to ensure they weren’t unprepared in case of an attack. After exchanging a few more polite words, Du Fan didn’t want to stay in the small town any longer. With a few courteous remarks, he quickly headed toward the imperial capital under the escort of the imperial city defense forces.